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Having been back now for a little over 4 weeks, I thought it was a good atime to plan our next trip! This time we'll just be doing safari and haven't decided on either Feb or July next year.

The basic outline so far is we fly in and out of Nairobi from the UK for 2 nights Samburu, 2 nights Nakuru and 3 nights Masai Mara.

The biggest headache we have at the mo is deciding which lodge/camp to stay at in the Mara. its amazing the number of them here, I wonder if there's enough room for the animals!

If you could give feedback on the below it would much appreciated and a great help:

1) Should we miss out Samburu and perhaps stay longer in the Mara or visit elsewhere? I appreciate this is a wonderful NP but I'm just concerned its a little ouf of the way in relation to the others.

2) Can you please recommend or name some lodges that offer bush walks and night safaris in these locations? Even though we're not adverse to luxury lodges (!), I think the likes of Porini camps may be a tad beyond our reach despite the experince being second-to-none - is there any where else mid-range-ish.

3) I believe Feb and July are both peak times though July is migration time - will there be a big difference between the 2? Plane tickets are roughly the same.

We could just stay at Sarova lodges throughout but having stayed at places like Galdessa and Voyager Ziwani, I thought perhaps something more in the wild would be better :)

Stick with Samburu its a fantastic park and great for game viewing, keep with your original itinerary but rather than 2 nights Nakuru just spend the one night and break your journey from Samburu to Nakuru by spending a night at either Sweetwaters or mountain lodge. As for Mara accommodation you cant go wrong with governors. If you are after night drives these can be taken at Sweetwaters and if you want a night drive in the Mara then these are available from Mara Serena.

If the Mara Serena is still doing these, they are costly, about $80/.person and only drive around the base from where the lodge is located. Why? Because night game drives aren't permitted if staying at lodge/camp within the Reserve itself. It's Serena's way of getting around the rules, though it was approved for them to do so... if they're still conducting these.

Sweetwater's, being on the private Ol Pejeta Conservancy, offers night game drives, so arrange to do this here.

Samburu is certainly worth doing, very different countryside and some different wildlife. Very scenic.

Mara - well, the lodges and camps outside the main Masai Mara Game Reserve, which are in the community ranches around the main Reserve can often do nite game drives and walks.

Siana is a good one doing all this and reasonably priced. These are smaller, simpler camps around Sekenani gate, but not sure how many do nite drives.

Take a look at MaasaiMara.com - lots of places listed there with location and price indication.

1st July onwards is when the migration starts coming into the Mara from across the border of Tanzania - the later you can make it the better! But also remember they are wild animals with their own time keeping!

Have fun. Alan.

One destination mentioned in this post

As to night game drives, even those smaller properties on the private conservancies adjacent to the Mara, are pulling back from doing truly "night" drives, i.e., going out at 9pm for a few hours. Why? Because this upsets the normal prowling of the game.

Instead, at dusk when vehicles have to be off the actual Reserve, these camps continue their game drives on their private lands for a few hours well into dark, arriving at lodge/camp about 8:30pm for dinner.

well, Samburu is one of my favourites, but i always would do it with a stop on the way to Lake Nakuru. Have been at the Ol Pejeta House this feb, the past times at Serena Mountain Lodge and The Ark.

But we had 10 nights, so with 7 nights i would try to combine Nakuru and Masai Mara, also considering it is in july.

Have you had a look at the Mbweha Camp at Lake Nakuru. Belongs to the same group as the Elephant Bedroom in Samburu, which is one of the best places we have ever been (they are also offering bush walks and we had a fantastic sundowner at the banks of the Ewaso Nyro there). I also loved this place, have also been to Lake Nakuru Lodge and Sarova Lion Hill inside the park, so looked for something new. After we have been to Maili Saba in September last year, we now choosed the Mbweha Camp which i like very much and would always take again, despite the thing with the park fees for Lake Nakuru (only one entry per day if you are having an accomodation outside).

At the Mbweha Camp you can do night game drives and guided bush walks because they are in a private conservancy close to Lake Nakuru.

As mentioned before - there are some places (outside the origin Mara) which are offering night game drives. During all our safari we only did one and i must add, that it was okay, but not more. I am more a fan of a nice sundowner.

I'm going to look at that site now. Siana has been recommended and I've just finished reading up about it. Its run by Heritage who run our (so far) favourite camper, Voyager Ziwani so should be good though a negative point is that its quite a drive to and from the NP each time through a village where you would only the village and its cattle.

Chrissy

Thanks for the input on Mbweha, its one I picked up from searching the forum and sounds great - though one report of bugs in the room! Interesting about the 1 entry only though so will need to think what that means realistically. If we want to do the bush walks then that may run when one of the game drives is on so could be ok. Will see what our safari company says - thanks for this, wasn't aware of this one.

4sandi

Appreciate the feedback on the night drives. It'd be a shame if these were to stop altogether but if they can't be done properly I suppose what's best for the animals is best all round. I know some camps use red spot lamps which are less intrusive and potentially damaging. Perhaps night vision technology will come down A LOT in price some day :-)

Samburu sounds great but we may give it a miss this time due to budget :-s

well, it means, that it might be the best to do a long game drive with a picnic lunch and you start after an early breakfast. We did this both times (Maili Saba and Mbweha), but we also had an longer evening game drive on the day we arrived there. I have to mention, that we had 2 nights at Lake Nakuru. With one night i always would take an accomodation located inside the park.

It has it advantages and disadvantages. I like smaller and more quieter places.

We had no bugs in our cottage at the Mbweha Camp. It was very clean and i was surprised about the great service there. It is always a personal opinion, but i have been now to Lake Nakuru Lodge, Sarova Lion Hill, Maili Saba and Mbweha Camp and can compare these places - for me.

If you are having any questions considering the Mbweha feel free to ask. I am just working on all my reviews (Diani Reef, Elephant Bedroom, Ol Pejeta House, Mbweha and Tipilikwani) with some pics, but i will need some time. Have been too lazy the past times, but thought it might be more fair also to add some reviews here on TA....

We did a night drive last week during our 1-week stay at Mara Serena in the Masai Mara. It cost $90/person and you go out in one of the Serena jeeps with a powerful spotlight from 7pm - 9pm. The driver was really knowledgeable and told us a lot about nocturnal animal behaviour and the guide that holds the spotlight never directly pointed the spotlight into the face/eyes of the wildlife.

Apart from lots of plains game like zebras and impalas - and also grazing hippos, we saw a leopard in tree with impala kill, lots of hares, two genet cats, a lion, tawny eagles and bat-eared fox. The night drive IS expensive and we got quite a few mosquito bites in the darkness despite insect repellent, but overall, we thought that it was really interesting to get the chance to see a bit more nocturnal animals on such a night drive, so if you get the chance to do this, we`d recommend it!